Sweet Endings

I didn't know I was the daughter of celebrities. Last weekend I flew down to the big Lub for my parent's retirement celebration. Together, they have served the Lubbock Independent School District for 77 years. The festivities began Thursday afternoon with the LISD reception. It was really nice. There were so many people there. They even rented a baby grand player piano just for the occasion. Here's a picture of the fam, minus Dave who had school that day. We were surprisingly color coordinated.

Friday night we celebrated with a BBQ at the house and 30 of mom and dad's closest friends. It was such a sweet moment to honor the lives of two people with incredible work ethic, loyalty, and integrity.

So, last night mom called to tell me that one of the news stations had heard about their double retirement and ran a story on them! How exciting is that? I've been searching online to find the video clip, but I can't find it. Anyways, I'm so proud of them for everything they have done and so excited for what's to come (including more trips to Kansas!)

Awww, 26. Someone told me I'm now in my late 20s. Yeah, you suck.

So here's the deal. In some areas of life I've far exceeded my expectations for 26. I never expected to be a full time youth minister in such a large church by this point. In fact, for a while I thought that would never happen. I consider my career to be a huge accomplishment, like running a marathon or curing cancer- ok not quite.

So, here's the missing piece of 26. Right now I'm sitting on my bed writing this completely alone. Honestly, there was never a moment in my life when I thought I would graduate from college without a husband. Silly I know, but all of my closest friends managed it. So, with birthdays, as the number increases so does the alone-ness- not necessarily loneliness, but just an increased sense of alone. It's just me, and even the best parents in the world, a million messages from my teens, and several free meals from friends just can't quite fill the gap. So as I stare at 26, I'm wishing someone was standing by my side looking at it with me.

Check out this cover of Hey-Ya. It's awesome.

Anyways, the last few weeks I've had the car bug. Well, not so much the car bug- but the gas prices for a SUV are eating my lunch bug. I actually love my car very much, I just hate the money it takes to run it and I'm really getting into the green movement.

So, with all that said, I have fallen in love with the prius. What a cool car! I even went to the Toyota dealership and was wooed by some man named John for about an hour and a half. The prius is the coolest car ever. You start it by simply pushing a button! This is the car of the future. As I drove it I couldn't stop watching the little screen that told me I was getting 99.9 miles to the gallon as I was breaking. If I got one I could easily get into a wreck just by watching that screen. So, I'm totally sold on the hybrid.

But then John brought me my monthly payment options and he totally burst my bubble. My new car payment would be much higher than my gas savings. So, back to reality. My car of the future will simply have to stay there.

Does anyone out there drive a prius?

I'm okay. A few of you have called to check on me. Yes, there were major storms and tornadoes that blew through last here last night. I was sitting on my deck reading a book watching the storm roll in. Then I heard the sirens and started checking the weather. All of the tornadoes were pretty far from my house, but we did get about 2 inches of rain here- so says the meteorologist.

Crazy tornado weather is nothing new for me. In west Texas you live in a tornado warning from mid-March through May. Here's something strange though. The worst storms always happen on Thursday nights. This is not scientific research, only personal observation mind you. Here's what I know, if there are good shows on TV to be watched, they will be interrupted by a severe weather alert. And since Thursdays are the best night for TV, that's when the storms roll in. I think weather people bank on it.